HEALTH ISSUES IN THE ENGLISH SETTER

These are my personal views, and I have tried to word them in laymans terms, rather than technical notes.   For me there are two problems but there are others that I have briefly mentioned just for information.  However, a Breeder obviously has to take all Health issues into account when Breeding and not just focus on one thing.    The chances are you will have a beautiful bouncing puppy that is fit for the rest of its life. 

Life has no guarantees unfortunately, it can happen to the best breeders in the world 

 

HIPS:-   English Setters can suffer from Hip dysplacia.     I can from personal experience tell you,  having purchased a puppy on two separate occasions,  how sad it is and painful to watch it suffer at only l2 weeks old age.   They cry on getting up and down, they find it difficult to move and tend to put their back hocks together and sort of bunny jump to support their hips. The second occasion the puppy was 6 months of age when he was diagnosed with severe hip displysia.  This is obviously the worse senario.   These days dependent upon the severity they can be helped with medication, operations etc. 

It happens less and less these days due to the fact that most reputable Breeders have their Breeding bitches  Stud dogs  hip xrayed by their own local Vet, under the Kennel Club B>V>A> scheme.  The xrays are then sent of each hip to the Kennel Club, and an independent Panel score each hip. They check how the hip is seated, whether it fits correctly into the socket, the angulations etc. etc.   The score or number for each hip are added together for a total hip score. The Xray plates and Score sheet are sent back to your Vet who in turn passes them back to the Breeder who gets a handwritten copy of the panels assesment and how the scores were totalled up..   I believe at present 2009 the current Breed Average for English Setters is a score of 19 in total for the two hips.

 

I wont be too technical but if you look under a specific dog on my Website you will see it says  BVA HIP SCORE    5:4    that would be a total of 9. Or you may see 13:6    Total of 19.   Showing one hip has scored higher than the other.   And if as I mentioned in the last paragraph they are 19 say, then they are within the Breed Average.   That is the average score of every English Setter xray plate sent to the Kennel Club. 

 

Each Breeder has their own Code of Ethics as to what is the maximum score they would breed a bitch or stud dog. The English Setter Association Code of Ethics does not give a guideline, however, it does say basically that you shouldnt do anything that could be detrimental to the Breed.  So obviously Breeding with a Dog or bitch that is too high could be detrimental.   But ...   I have to say that even if you had a Bitch that was 1:1 and a Stud Dog that was 1:1 there is no guarantee that all the litter would end up with good hips.   In fact a lot of pet dogs are not scored at all, they live a full life, running jumping etc. and unbeknown to their owners they could have hip dysplacia.       It does make you wonder why we bother in the first place doesnt it!!!!!   I know of one specific bitch who has a score of 75 in total and climbs/jumps 5' fences with no problem whatsoever. You would think she would be a cripple.   

 

Again from a personal point of view I would not Breed with a Bitch that was over 30. but there is no reason whatsoever to use a high score dog.   The Bitch you obviously have no choice, but there is plenty of choice to use a low scoring Stud Dog under 20. 

 

 

 

SKIN:-  This is currently quite a hot topic as it appear there are more and more English Setters having problems.  Be it nibbling their feet, rubbing their face on the floor, ears flairing up, itchy rash under their belly, licking constantly at the same spot making horrible weeping sores. It can be very very distressing for both the dog and the owner.  This can be caused by a Food Intolerance - i.e. Wheat, additives,milk, beef, lamb  etc.   Allergies :-Grass, Pollen, House Mites, etc. etc.   If your setter develops these problems it is a long trial and error to find a cure. There are blood tests, food trialling and treatments such as   steroids (Pred) , Desensitising injections, Atopica Tablets, Oatmeal shampoo, Piriton, and on it goes. so all these tests need to be done to find out what is actually causing it, and sometimes it is very very difficult.  I personal would ask to be referred to a Skin Specialist if it was my dog, no disrespect to any Vet but this is quite an in depth specialised subject.

I usually try and feed both puppies and Adults a Gluten Free Hyperallergenic food to at least rule out a food allergy with the wheat.  I buy complete food that contains No Additives, Preservatives, Derivatives or Colourants. I only feed complete for the morning feed and raw dog tripe and wholemeal mixer for the evening meal.  I also add an Omega 3 and 6 supplement to their food as these are the 2 oils that help the skin. Again just my personal opinion.

 

Again you WOULD DEFINITELY NOT Breed or use a Stud dog that had a skin problem, but like hips ---- there are never any guarantees that your setter may not get this problem.  You cannot blame a Breeder for this occurrence - they too probably dont know how or what made it start in the first place.   But ... if you buy a puppy do have a look at Mum or Dad and notice if their legs or feet have marks from licking, or pink feet from chewing.

 

 

 

DEAFNESS:-It can occasionally occur that one or two puppies in a litter are born Deaf in both ears because of the whiteness of the pigmentation.   The Breeder would hopefully be aware of this.   They are on occasions found homes, but obviously have to have be specially trained using hand signals.  You may have one born which is unilaterally deaf which is one ear only - and you would probably never know this as "most setters act selectively deaf" as and when they choose.  Some Breeders have their litters BAER tested to ensure there are no deaf puppies.   However, there are few places in the country where this can be done.  You cannot just go to your local vet. I have just recently heard that there is now a Kennel club Veterinary Practise in Derby that does the BAER testing, so thats great for those of us in the East Midlands area.   I have used the one in Cambridge, and there is one I believe up North, but very few. 

 

 I did on one occasion quite a few years ago take a whole litter of l3 six week old pups, their Mum, and 2 other adult Setters to the Animal Health Trust in Cambridge.   What a nightmare just getting there on the A1, a hot summers day with traffic jams.  We then carried all the pups into a room and popped them all down to relieve themselves and they needed their lunch.   We then one by one sat them on my knee and the Consultant pops electrodes into their ears, turns on the machine which sends vibrations to check their hearing, which then records a printout of the results.  Of all the l3 there wasnt one that was even unilaterally deaf.  All the adults were okay as well. On the way back we had to pull into a service station as they were all overheating with so many in the van.  We just flew open the back doors and ensured no one jumped out. I have never done it since as it was just too traumatic all round. However, now I have a Test Centre more local, I will definitely have my next litter (which is a long way off) BAER tested.

 

 

 

COLITIS: -    They can occasionally get loose bowel movement and sometimes contains blood.   It can be caused by stress, intolerance to some foods and need to be gluten free, hyperallergenic etc.     Certain dogs can get this more often than others.   But there are loads of products on the market to help.  If it gets very bad and has a horrible smell then you must go to the vet for treatment .  If it is a food intolerance then they may have to stay on a Prescription Diet of say Blue whiting & tapioca, or maybe non prescription Salmon & Potato but they are still as fit as a fiddle.

 

DEAD TAIL  This is exactly as it sounds.  The tail hangs like a pump, you would almost think they have broken it.   It is on occasions very painful and they can turn in circles grabbing and biting at the root.  It can last for 1-3 days.  If it becomes so painful then please go to the vet and they will give you anti inflamatory - usually rimadyl tablets.    This takes the swelling and pain away and they will before too long return to normal with no after effects.    However, it can occur again, but by then you wont need to panic as much and know what to do. The vets will say its a show terminology.  We still dont really know why it happens.  Over the years with friends in the breed we have discussed it numerous times.   Sometimes after we have bathed them for a show it can happen within a few hours.  Sometimes if they go out in cold weather and get wet it can happen.  Sometimes you think that maybe when its wet they have banged it - I really have no definite answer.   But it is better to be prepared and to have the knowledge and heard about it before, just in case it does happen.  

EARS   They can occasionally especially when puppies are teething become very smelly and waxy.  It can sometimes be earmites, which is usually the problem. Throughout their adult life that is why it is necessary to keep the ears trimmed to help them ventilate.  It invariably only ever seems to be a problem in one ear not two.   Some setters do get very very badly inflamed and infected and have to have ear canal treatment.   This is only in really bad cases, so do ensure that you regularly on a every other day basis check to ensure they are thoroughly clean and free from any debris, wax, mites or anything else.  If they are inflamed, weeping, smelly, scratching them then dont wast time get to the vet for treatment.  There are antibiotic drops, liquid treatment for ear mites, clear liquid to flush out etc. and your vet will advise which is the best treatment for the particular problem.